Bergerud makes final plea to jury

FORT MORGAN — Ordinarily, in murder trials, the jury’s final decision hinges on which theory it believes: the charges brought by the prosecution, or the defense posited by the accused.

That process of decision is where the case against Allen Bergerud now stands, and it’s about the only ordinary thing that has happened during the three-week trial.

Bergerud, who is representing himself in a double-murder case that could end with a life sentence, had one last opportunity Tuesday to convince a jury to believe his theory of what happened April 7, 2002.

The Weld County Sheriff’s Office and other agencies worked together to cover up what really happened, Bergerud said, and that deputies shot and killed 39-year-old Linda Cooper.

There was another, separate conspiracy, too, he suggested: Cooper must have conspired with 46-year-old Lon Yeaman to kill Bergerud and get his $80,000 401(k) benefits.

Bergerud didn’t offer a theory about how those conspiracies converged or how they might have been carried out. He just tried to convince the jury his theory was real.

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“To make a coverup, I would guess you could do it in a minute,” he said.

He said he was convinced Yeaman tried to run Bergerud over with Yeaman’s pickup, and that’s why Bergerud shot him. But he shot no more than three times, and he points to the conspiracy theory to explain the minimum of eight more bullets found in the bodies of Yeaman and Cooper.

During the past few days, Bergerud offered other explanations for his actions the night of the alleged murders. He admitted he was intoxicated, and doctors whom Bergerud called to the stand testified that he had a low IQ and emotional and mental health problems. Those could have combined to make it difficult or impossible for Bergerud to reflect knowledgeably on what he was doing.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Michael Rourke, anticipating in his opening argument what Bergerud would say afterward, aimed to discredit those theories by discrediting Bergerud.

Rourke said Bergerud killed Yeaman and Cooper because he was jealous the two had arrived together to a horse pasture where Bergerud was working.

Prosecutors said Bergerud called Cooper earlier in the night of April 6 to say her horses were out of their pasture. Cooper arrived with Yeaman, a bucketful of oats and some ropes. According to her last words, recorded on a 911 tape, Yeaman and Bergerud were talking when Bergerud shot Yeaman. Cooper fled into a field, and about 30 minutes later, she was shot, too.

Rourke said that was the only explanation the jury should consider.

“The defendant’s version of events comes nowhere close to matching the physical evidence in this case,” Rourke said.

Rourke also said prosecutors fear trying someone who doesn’t have a lawyer.

They don’t want to look like they are preying upon someone who is neither prepared nor qualified to defend himself, Rourke said.

But the jury can’t consider that, he added. The jury’s instructions forbid sympathy for the accused.

“Any sympathy that may have arisen during the course of this trial should not be used,” Rourke said.

Before watching the departure of the 12 men and women who hold his fate in their hands, Bergerud asked for their forgiveness.

The penitence he sought was not related to the two deaths he is accused of causing, however.

He wanted to apologize for his behavior during his trial, especially his sometimes foul language and a morning of cross-examination in which he answered prosecution questions with boot-camp style emphatic “Yes, sir” or “No, sir” answers.

“These two guys are the best DAs in the country,” Bergerud said, gesturing toward Rourke and District Attorney Ken Buck. “I knew I was gonna have to cowboy up.”

The jury will continue deliberations this morning at 8:30 at the Morgan County Justice Center.